Mooring Advice

Submitted by Kirk Auston on Fri, 07/02/2004 - 16:35

Can anyone share their experience/advice about mooring a Flying Scot? I am considering mooring it in a freshwater lake in Oklahoma, with anti-fouling bottom paint and a Sailor's Tailor mooring cover. Am primarily worried about damage to the hull/blasa core from staying in the water all season. Any advice would be appreciated.
FS#782

Comments

Kirk, I kept 277 moored for most of last summer, found that I sailed much more frequently, due to the obvious. If you have the option, by all means moor her. It makes late afternoon sails for a couple of hours much more likely than having to rig/derig and trailer her home. Keep the cover on (watch for chafe at the rail padeyes, shroudplates, etc) and lower the centerboard as much as depth will allow. I use 2 mooring lines, one slightly eased and run through the bow eye back to a solid cleat should chafe or breakage disable the primary line. Unless you have hull leaks (which should be obvious) there is little chance that damage to the core will occur as long as you make sure there is no standing water left in the bottom of the boat. Make sure your deck hardware is sufficiently bedded, also. Sail on!

Kirk: I've successfully moored for two seasons using the Sailors Tailor cover. It is very heavy duty but I had to fuss with the bungees after they stretched. The aluminum hooks will leave marks on the deck if the plastic sleeves aren't kept in place. Prior to mooring I had the bottom sanded and a barrier coat applied before the bottom paint. I also attached the jib halyard to the bow eye and kept a little tension on it to keep the mast from banging around due to the loose rig. I don't know if this was overkill but I reseated the screws for the centerboard gasket in 3M 4200 just to be certain that they weren't admitting water. Later, I added a swim ladder to help with boarding.

Folks;
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What do people recommend for an average
inland lake mooring anchor weight? I made
a weekend anchor of old mooring chain and
40 lbs of cement; 75-90 lbs or so.
This might be too heavy to pull up??
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[?]
Hard Starboard; FS#0803

A 50 lb. mushroom anchor works well. Cement loses a lot of its weight under water. The mushroom with about 10 to 15 feet of 3/8 chain and then 1/2 inch line as long as the water depth to the float works well. I like the float that lets the line pass right through it so you don’t need to worry about the float hardware failing.

I moor my FS803 in portland maine harbor on a 250 lb mushroom. the mushroom is over kill but good piece of mind. we can get a nor-easter kicking up 3 foot waves in our mooring field. we have 7 to 10 foot tides. there is a 10 foot bowline and 15 foot tether. I have painted the bottom with hydrocoat anti-fouling paint with great results. Pettit Hydrocoat is formulated with a 40% cuprous oxide content durable, water-based resins. the real key is water based =easy clean up. we are in a very aggressive fouling waters in maine and the first year only required touch up. I was concerned about the twice a day tide wear and tear on the boat but it was not that bad on the boat. If I can moor a 40 year old boat in one of the most aggressive harbors on the north Atlantic, you can do it inland.
Hard Starboard; FS 803